Photo credit: Julie Cordeiro Photography
Exploring, preserving, and sharing the repertoire and technique of Isadora Duncan.
Dances by Isadora was founded in 1989 by Patricia Adams and Catherine Gallant in the Boston area. Patt and Catherine taught and performed together primarily in solos and duets (with pianist Vivian Taylor) from 1986-1993. The Boston group grew to include local dancers who had studied with Patt and Catherine at Dean College, the Boston Conservatory, MIT and the Dance Complex. Catherine returned to NYC in 1993 and began working with dancers who would also perform in her own contemporary choreography. We are proud to say that Dances by Isadora maintains a base of activity in both New York and Boston with connections to the international Duncan community. The Boston group, Dances by Isadora Boston, is co-directed by Kelli Edwards and Sandy Zarotney Keldsen.
Dances by Isadora’s mission is to share the history of dance as an art form with a contemporary audience through the presentation and teaching of the work of modern dance pioneer, Isadora Duncan (1877-1927). The company is also dedicated to the growth of new work which comments on history and culture while making connections from past to present with an eye to future innovation. Dances by Isadora is committed to educating audiences/students of all ages through touring its educational programs and performances.
Upcoming Performances/events:
Roaring Twenties Lawn Party: Reimagining the Jazz Age
Reimagine the Roaring Twenties with this 2-day lawn party set on the Crane Estate. Here you’ll find 1920s jazz, antique autos, a vintage fair, flappers and dandies, and picnickers galore. Dances by Isadora Boston performs on the lawn both days at 4pm and 6:25pm.
Saturday, August 5 & Sunday, August 6, 2023 from 3pm -8pm
Castle Hill on the Crane Estate
Click here for tickets and information
Recent Review:
Dance Review: “Dances by Isadora” – Freedom to Move. June 26, 2019 in Artsfuse.org
Mary Paula Hunter writes that a passion for authenticity characterized Dances by Isadora Boston’s recent mesmerizing program, performed at Mount Auburn Cemetery. Saturday, June 22nd, 2019.
Recent performances/events:
Roaring Twenties Lawn Party: Reimagining the Jazz Age
Reimagine the Roaring Twenties with this 2-day lawn party set on the Crane Estate. Here you’ll find 1920s jazz, antique autos, a vintage fair, flappers and dandies, and picnickers galore. Dances by Isadora Boston performs on the lawn both days at 4pm and 6:25pm.
Saturday, August 6 & Sunday, August 7, 2022 from 3pm -8pm
Castle Hill on the Crane Estate
Roaring Twenties Lawn Party: Reimagining the Jazz Age
Reimagine the Roaring Twenties with this 2-day lawn party set on the Crane Estate. Here you’ll find 1920s jazz, antique autos, a vintage fair, flappers and dandies, and picnickers galore. Dances by Isadora Boston performs on the lawn both days at 4pm and 6:25pm.
Saturday, August 7 & Sunday, August 8, 2021 from 3pm -8pm
Castle Hill on the Crane Estate
Dances of the Spirit: The Works of Isadora Duncan at Longfellow Park
5 Longfellow Park, Cambridge, MA
August 24, 2019 at 3pm
Inspired by the work of iconic New England artist Daniel Chester French, the sculptor of the Longfellow Memorial, the company will perform an original piece choreographed in response to French’s masterwork “Mourning Victory” alongside repertoire by Isadora Duncan, who was French’s friend and contemporary. The performance will explore our community spaces, our community memorials, and our living bodies in motion. The performance will be followed by a workshop on Duncan’s technique for audience members of all ages.
Dances of the Spirit: The Works of Isadora Duncan
Mount Auburn Cemetery, Mt. Auburn St. Cambridge, MA
June 22, 2019 at 2pm.
Tickets can be purchased in advance at:
https://mountauburn.org/event/dances-of-the-spirit-the-works-of-isadora-duncan-at-mount-auburn-3/
Known as the “mother of modern dance,” Isadora Duncan created a series of mourning dances following the accidental deaths of her two children in 1913. Dances by Isadora will perform these evocative dances of wind, sea, darkness, and light in Hazel Dell.
Benefit Celebration for the 50th Anniversary of Chesterwood as a National Trust Historic Site on June 1, 2019 Gala Benefit Performance, and June 9, 2019, Community Day Performance
Event information: https://www.chesterwood.org/50th-anniversary-studio-garden-party
Dances by Isadora Boston and Friends of Mount Auburn present:
Dances of the Spirit: The Works of Isadora Duncan
Saturday, June 23rd at 2pm, 2018
http://mountauburn.org/event/dances-of-the-spirit-the-works-of-isadora-duncan-at-mount-auburn/
We were thrilled to be part of the Jacob’s Pillow 85th Anniversary Season! Inside/Out Series, Thursday, July 13 at 6:15pm. Our program featured historic work by Duncan including Nocturne and Bacchanal as well as Allegretto, with choreography by Catherine Gallant, the director and co-founder of Dances by Isadora, inspired by Duncan’s 1908 work to the music of Beethoven.
- Dances of the Spirit: The Works of Isadora Duncan. Mount Auburn Cemetery, Saturday, June 24th, 2017 at 2pm. $10 for Friends of Mount Auburn members and $20 for the public. Known as the “mother of modern dance,” Isadora Duncan created a series of mourning dances following the accidental deaths of her two children in 1913. Dances by Isadora will perform these evocative dances of wind, sea, darkness, and light in Hazel Dell.
- Workshop Series at Berkshire Pulse https://berkshirepulse.org/events/
- The Life and Art of Isadora Duncan at the Thomas Crane Public Library, Richardson Room, Quincy, MA. Sunday, April 30th, 2017, 3pm. Come witness a rare glimpse of the classic beauty and haunting honesty that shocked audiences nearly a century ago and made dance history in a spectacular performance by Dances by Isadora – Boston, dedicated to preserving her work as a living art.
- Sandra Zarotney Keldsen was interviewed on Quincy Public Access Television speaking about the Quincy Library event.
- Southern Vermont Dance Festival (SVDF) Gala Performance at the Latchis Theater, Brattleboro, VT – July 15, 2016, 8pm
- Southern Vermont Dance Festival (SVDF) Isadora Duncan Master Classes at the Latchis Theater, Brattleboro, VT – July 16, 2016 – Beginner Level 9:15-10:45am, Advanced Level 11:30am-1pm
- Shaker Dance Revival 2016 at the Canterbury Shaker Village, New Hampshire
- Isadora Duncan International Symposium 2015, Chicago, IL
- Cambridge Multicultural Center April 2015
- The Dance Complex, September 2014
- Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, MA
- Keene Public Library, Keene NH
- Somerville Arts Council presents: Dancing in the Streets
- Old Saybrook, CT – Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, 2nd Annual Dance for Peace
- Medford Arts Council, Royall House
- Stonehill College
- Tufts University Friday Performances
Dances by Isadora Boston Company Biographies
Patricia Adams (Co-Founder, Dances by Isadora Boston) began performing Duncan’s work in 1977 as a member of the Isadora Duncan Repertory Dance Company, under the direction of Sylvia Gold. In 1989 she co-founded Dances by Isadora with Catherine Gallant. She has performed and taught throughout the United States, in Russia, Japan, Hungary, Finland, and Canada, and at numerous colleges and studios in the Boston area. In addition to many years of study with Sylvia Gold, her teachers include Julia Levein, Hortense Kooluris, and Gemze DeLappe, and her long-time collaborator, Catherine Gallant. Now semi-retired, she continues to perform with Dances by Isadora and is a Psychotherapist in private practice in Sharon, MA.
Kelli Edwards (Co-Director, Dances by Isadora Boston) joined Dances by Isadora in 1996 under the tutelage of Patricia Adams. She is now Co-Director of the Boston subsidiary of the company. Kelli has also performed with choreographers Marcus Schulkind, David Parker, Sara Rudner, Ruth Birnberg, Brian Crabtree, Daniel McCusker and in her own work. Her choreography has been presented at Dance Umbrella, Dance Now Boston and Soaking Wet in NYC. She has choreographed numerous shows at The New Rep, The Huntington, American Repertory Theatre, and Actors’ Shakespeare Project among others. Kelli is currently on the performing arts faculty at Milton Academy.
Sandra Zarotney Keldsen (Co-Director, Dances by Isadora Boston) spearheads our teaching and performing activities in the Boston/New England area. Sandra began her exploration of the Duncan work with Dances by Isadora co-founder Catherine Gallant as a student at the Boston Conservatory. Sandra joined Dances by Isadora upon completing her BFA at the Conservatory in 1993, and has taught and performed with the company ever since, training with Duncan master teachers Sylvia Gold, Patricia Adams and Catherine Gallant. Sandra has also performed in the Boston area with Daniel McCusker and Dancers, Lorraine Chapman the Company and Kelli Edwards. She is a 200 hr YTT certified yoga instructor and she teaches dance and yoga at Center Stage Performing Arts Studio in Quincy, MA. Sandra also serves as the Assistant Director of the Human Resources Policy Institute at the Boston University Questrom School of Business.
Alison Ball has been dancing in the Boston area since her relocation here in 1996. She happily worked with Pat Adams soon after arriving and after a long hiatus she returns again to work with the beautiful Dances by Isadora dancers. She has also danced with Daniel McCusker, Brian Crabtree, Caitlin Corbett, Kelli Edwards, Audra Carabetta, Marjorie Morgan, Debra Bluth, and Joan Green. She holds an MFA from George Washington University and currently works as a physical therapy assistant
Irene Lutts has been dancing in the Boston area most of her life. Over the years she has had the honor of performing with many wonderful choreographers including Caitlin Corbett, Marcus Schulkind, Daniel McCusker, Brian Crabtree, Lorraine Chapman The Company, Kelli Edwards, Back Porch Dance Company, Jody Weber, and most recently Peter DiMuro/Public Displays of Motion. She is delighted to be learning the work of Isadora Duncan and performing with these beautiful women. When not dancing Irene spends her time homeschooling her two children and advocating for bicycling infrastructure in her home-town, Quincy.
Colleen Quinn is happy to be performing with Dances By Isadora-Boston. Her love for the Isadora Duncan technique began in classes with Gemze deLappe, continues with tours and performances with Jeanne Bresciani and the Isadora Duncan International Institute, and carries forward with her teaching of this unique and beautiful form of dance at the Hingham Community Center. Colleen is a movement, music and theatre arts instructor at Inly School and is a freelance musical theatre choreographer. She holds an MFA in Dance from Smith College.
Maya Slocum began her studies with the Jose Mateo Ballet Theater and performed for several years in the company’s production of The Nutcracker. Later she studied ballet under Cosmin and Melinda Marculetiu with the International Ballet Academy of Norwell. She has performed with David Parker and The Bang Group in Boston, and is currently a member of the Vassar Repertory Dance Theater at Vassar College. She was introduced to Duncan as a student of Kelli Edwards’ and is honored to continue learning and performing this work with Dances By Isadora Boston.
Photo Credit: Julie Cordeiro Photography
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All photos by Julie Cordeiro.
Unless Otherwise Noted, Photo Credits: Julie Cordeiro Photography